Auto manufacturers connect with electric cars

By Neal Morton

Updated 10:54 pm, Friday, September 27, 2013

DALLAS - The front of the all-electric Nissan Leaf confused Maria Peña on Friday at the State Fair of Texas auto show.

Peña, 41, of San Antonio, easily pinpointed the hood, but she couldn't figure out what hid beneath the charging port cover, where drivers plug in one of two connectors to recharge the zero-emission vehicle.

"What is that?" she asked in Spanish. "Is that where you put the gas?"

Her eldest son, 15-year-old Ernesto, laughed before explaining that the Nissan Leaf requires no gasoline. He encouraged her to sit in the driver's seat.

The Peña family was one of many attending the first day of the annual state fair in Dallas.

Fair officials no longer release attendance counts but last year pegged the number at about 3 million. A spokesman said nearly 85 percent of those attendees take time to see the hundreds of cars and trucks showcased at the fair each year.

"It's like I'm in a candy store," said Ernesto, a car enthusiast. "I turn 16 next year. It's my big chance to show my mom and dad the best gift suggestion."

A fan of alternative fuel and electric vehicles such as the Leaf, Ernesto had hoped to see the Tesla Model S, another zero-emission sedan that is not for sale in Texas.

The Model S made its debut in June 2012, but Alexis Georgeson, a spokeswoman for Tesla Motors, said the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer won't make an appearance at the state fair this year.

"We are still short on resources at this time (spokespeople, product specialists, cars, etc.)," Georgeson said in an email. "However, we will look into this opportunity next year."

Even if Tesla shows up in 2014, however, the Model S is unlikely to steal much attention away from the real stars of the auto show: pickups.

The outdoor truck area on Friday seemed to draw more crowds than last year, despite the midday heat. Pickup fans climbed into their favorite models and munched on corn dogs as they listened to automaker representatives bragging about each truck's towing capacity, powertrain and more.

"The world's largest truck market, by far, is Texas, in terms of volume," said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst with auto information site Edmunds.com.

"If you want to get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of letting people have exposure" to trucks, she said, "the Texas state fair is probably the best place you can put that vehicle."

That's likely why truck makers like Ford, Ram and Toyota chose this year's fair instead of other auto shows around the nation to launch the latest and greatest in their pickup models.

The refreshed Ford F-Series Super Duty King Ranch - named after the famous ranch in South Texas - made its debut here this week, and Joe Hinrichs, president of the Americas for Ford Motor Co., said the state fair is the only non-auto show event to see so many truck introductions.

"There's a reason why this is probably the only state fair you see all the truck manufacturers with displays," he said.